April 28 news, in order to deeply understand Tesla’s manufacturing plan, we need to invest more energy to carefully figure it out, especially when listening to Elon Musk (Elon Musk) describe the future vision, we should keep Prudent attitude. After all, he always likes to provide a forward-looking perspective on the future of robot cars and the upcoming changes in the industry.
However, just in the past week, Tesla's quarterly profits plummeted 55%, and it burned more than $2 billion in cash in the first quarter. Against this background, Tesla's recent product plans are still full of uncertainty. The so-called “product” is actually a relatively common part of Tesla's business, that is, metal is tempered and eventually made into cars that are loved by car fans.
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Investors are increasingly doubting whether Musk maintains his interest in developing cheaper next-generation entry-level electric vehicles. In recent weeks, Musk has appeared overly focused on the upcoming launch of robotaxi in August, even though Tesla has yet to prove it can match Alphabet's Waymo in deploying self-driving cars.
However, on Tuesday, local time in the United States, Musk tried to convey a message to investors: more economical electric vehicles are about to be launched. He claimed that the product roadmap has been advanced,The release time of the new model has been moved up from the original planned second half of 2025 to later this year.
But these plans do not seem to be the next-generation cars that investors are looking forward to, but rather a strategy of combining old and new that Tesla is using to quickly launch new products amid the current sluggish growth in U.S. electric vehicle sales.It sounds like a Frankenstein-esque pastiche.
Musk told analysts on Tuesday: “These new cars, including more economical models, will combine the advantages of next-generation platforms and existing platforms, and may even be produced on the same production lines as existing models.”
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When talking about platform, Musk is likely referring to the infrastructure of Tesla's latest existing models, namely Model 3 and Model Y.When investment bank Bernstein analyst Tony Sacconaghi asked whether these new cars were just tweaks to existing products (such as Model Y) or completely new models, Musk did not give a detailed answer.
However, auto industry veterans speculate that any new models that begin production later this year on the same production lines as existing cars will likely just be upgraded versions of Tesla's already-launched models. After all, Tesla just upgraded the outdated Model 3, and the Model Y is likely to be the next target.
Sacconaghi told investors in a subsequent note: “Tesla has a poor track record of implementing model expansions on existing platforms, let alone in the short term. We believe Tesla is more likely to launch The streamlined versions of Model 3 and Model Y are marketed as low-priced entry-level models, but we are skeptical about how much cost Tesla can actually cut.”
Such a strategy may disappoint new buyers, who are often attracted to fresh, bright products. At the same time, this may also be seen as weakening the brand value of Tesla's existing products.
For many investors, the promise of a next-generation platform — especially a roughly $25,000 car — has become the cornerstone of Tesla's future. This is part of Musk's ambitious plan to increase Tesla's annual deliveries to 20 million vehicles by 2030 from 1.81 million last year, making it the world's best-selling automaker.
Back in 2020, there were rumors that Tesla would launch a cheaper car. In an investor speech in March 2023, Musk elaborated on how to make this car affordable to more people. In that speech, Tesla proposed a new assembly process, saying it would completely subvert the traditional car manufacturing method, which is vividly called the “Unboxed” process.
In essence, the way Tesla envisions a car is not made in the traditional box-like assembly line, where parts are added one by one to a moving body. on the contrary,Tesla is pursuing the goal of modularizing car components more efficiently and ultimately integrating these modules together.. Lars Moravy, Tesla's vice president of automotive engineering, told investors at the time: “If we want to scale production the way we expect, we have to completely rethink the manufacturing process.”
In January this year, Musk continued to use this plan to attract investors' attention, announcing that he would start producing low-priced cars by the end of next year. At the same time, he also warned that it would be a difficult task and might even require sleeping in the factory, which has become his typical signal of the importance of a certain work.
Musk said at the time: “Of course, I should take my words with a grain of salt because I'm generally optimistic. But I firmly believe that once this production process starts running, it will be far superior to any other manufacturing technology in the world – it will Automobile manufacturing technology has been pushed to a new level.”
On Tuesday, however, things took a turn for the better. Molavi said some work on the next-generation platform could be preserved without the need for a completely new production system, and even the bold ideas touted last year may not be realized quickly enough.
He added: “The 'unboxing' manufacturing method is undoubtedly great and revolutionary, but it also comes with certain risks. However, all subsystems we develop, whether they are powertrains, drive units, battery improvements, thermal systems, seats, internal component integration or reduction of low-voltage controllers, are portable. This is what we are currently working on, trying to apply these technologies into actual products as soon as possible. “
Despite the apparent setback to its plans, Tesla assured investors last week that its pioneering “unboxing” process was still in development. Although no specific timetable was provided and the scope of the application was unclear, Tesla told investors in its earnings report: “Our manufacturing strategy designed specifically for autonomous vehicle products will continue to embrace the revolution of 'unboxing' manufacturing. Sexual Ideas.”
This promise is reminiscent of a few years ago, when Musk predicted that Tesla would make a major breakthrough in its manufacturing process, thereby speeding up production and reducing production costs. This is undoubtedly another major bet related to the company's fate in Tesla's short history. However, Musk’s insistence on extreme automation has proven to cause a series of problems. He later admitted personally that the increase in Model 3 production almost brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy.
Still, the eventual success of the Model 3 and Model Y helped Tesla become the world's most valuable automaker and establish itself as a leader in electric vehicles. These accomplishments further demonstrate that while Musk's grand visions don't always pan out, he can inspire his teams to deliver innovations that ultimately pay off and set Tesla apart from the competition.
After Musk's conference call with analysts on Tuesday, some investors seemed willing to give him more patience — even as their usual optimism about Musk faces a new test. Tesla's stock price rose 14% in the week ended last Friday, but its cumulative decline this year still reached 32%.
For Musk, however, the future of robots is what he really wants investors to focus on. “If anyone is skeptical about Tesla's ability to solve the self-driving problem, then I don't think they should be an investor in this company,” he said.